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FM12: The Lich King Challenge

Welcome to the ultimate challenge that will test your patience and determination to achieve something that probably was never achieved before. It will last 17 seasons at the very least, but it's highly unlikely someone will be able to do it that quickly. Can you become one of the very few football legends that will be remembered forever?

The Aim

You will have to win every possible trophy in all Scandinavian countries. This means you need to secure a total of 14 league titles and 9 cups at domestic level, but that's just the first stage. You will also have to win UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. That's where things change a little bit. After securing these trophies you will have to take over a Scandinavian national team (Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland) and win both EURO and World Cup with them.

The Rules

1. You can choose any of the five countries as a place to start, but you must take over a club in the lowest playable league of that country. It's your decision whether to start unemployed or not.
2. You may switch clubs within one country.
3. Promotions don't count as league wins unless you actually have won the league.
4. You may not manage outside Scandinavia.
5. Player naming is allowed.
6. Tactic naming and using downloaded tactics is not allowed.
7. The challenge finishes on Football Manager 2013 release date.
8. You are awarded for winning a specific competition only once, no matter how many times you win it.
9. You may take over a national team at any stage, but you're not allowed to manage club and a national team simultaneously.

Win all domestic trophies with one club (15 points)
Win all domestic trophies in two seasons (25 points)
Turn professional (25 points)
Qualify for Europa League group stages (30 points)
Qualify for Champions League group stages (45 points)

Denmark

Do back-to-back promotions (15 points)
Win all domestic trophies with one club (20 points)
Qualify for Europa League group stages (25 points)
Win all domestic trophies in three seasons (30 points)
Qualify for Champions League group stages (35 points)

Finland

Win all domestic trophies with one club (15 points)
Win all domestic trophies in two years (30 points)
Qualify for Europa League group stages (30 points)
Qualify for Champions League group stages (40 points)

Norway

Do back-to-back promotions (15 points)
Win all domestic trophies with one club (20 points)
Qualify for Europa League group stages (25 points)
Win all domestic trophies in three seasons (30 points)
Qualify for Champions League group stages (35 points)

Sweden

Do back-to-back promotions (15 points)
Win all domestic trophies with one club (20 points)
Qualify for Europa League group stages (25 points)
Win all domestic trophies in three seasons (30 points)
Qualify for Champions League group stages (35 points)

Overall

Make a Scandinavian league one of the top ten in Europe (20 points)
Make a Scandinavian league one of the top five in Europe (35 points)
Get your player to win European Golden Boot (35 points)
Get your player to win European Player of the Year (50 points)
Get your player to become European Championships top scorer (50 points)
Get your player to become World Cup top scorer (60 points)
Get your player to win World Player of the Year (75 points)
Make a Scandinavian league the best in Europe (100 points)
Win the European Championships at your first attempt (150 points)
Win the World Cup at your first attempt (200 points)
Complete the challenge in 2040 or earlier (250 points)
Complete the challenge in 2030 (300 points)

Now it's all up to you. Can you become the best? Can you become FM12's Lich King?

Last edited by Rikulec; 03-07-2012 at 10:00.
Reason: Some changes to the rules

That seems like a brilliant challenge Been a long time since we've had anyone properly outline a challenge and put some effort in to it, probably since Ri916 and Toonbalmy87 with their youth academy challenges. If your doing this for FM13, i'll probably join in at that point

a shame it is rather late to embark on what would be an absolute epic of a challenge. Even if your not officially going to run this for FM13 im gonna give it a shot A great idea of a challenge and like others before me have said, if its going ahead for FM13 you can count me in.

I'm inclined to give a go just to see how it pans out before FM13 and start properly for it. Though for a feedback I'd say a few words:

- Not being able to change countries before winning everything may hamper the progress & fun to a degree and I hope you foresee that.
- How are you going to make sure people don't use downloaded tactics? I am not really up to date on various challenge rules but this one is a bit unnecessary control to me.
- Do we have to win everything with clubs before moving to national team management?

What I'd suggest is let people roam freely in Scandinavia as long as they are winning trophies. This'll allow a lot of different stories from different careers. Also I'd say, you should not put a pre-requisite to the NT management. If they are offered the job, people should be able to go for it.

I'm inclined to give a go just to see how it pans out before FM13 and start properly for it. Though for a feedback I'd say a few words:

- Not being able to change countries before winning everything may hamper the progress & fun to a degree and I hope you foresee that.
- How are you going to make sure people don't use downloaded tactics? I am not really up to date on various challenge rules but this one is a bit unnecessary control to me.
- Do we have to win everything with clubs before moving to national team management?

What I'd suggest is let people roam freely in Scandinavia as long as they are winning trophies. This'll allow a lot of different stories from different careers. Also I'd say, you should not put a pre-requisite to the NT management. If they are offered the job, people should be able to go for it.

Thanks for your opinion. I've started working on the challenge as soon as the idea hit my mind and spent about an hour thinking about it and working on the OP, so maybe it wasn't long enough. The challenge is in its early stage though, so I'm going to change the rule about winning everything before moving to another country and add another one about NT management.

Thanks for your opinion. I've started working on the challenge as soon as the idea hit my mind and spent about an hour thinking about it and working on the OP, so maybe it wasn't long enough. The challenge is in its early stage though, so I'm going to change the rule about winning everything before moving to another country and add another one about NT management.

I don't think anyone would be able to finish it without buying any players.

It's easy to do, just extremely time consuming, so you'd have to be someone who spent most of their day playing to even think about doing that, but as I said, for a normal person like me and you with a challenge like this, buying players is a must really. It's taken me long enough to take Chester to the Premier League without buying players, never mind all those teams!

Been away for a week working, and have finally found some time to give this a blast.

Started with a team called Thisted Fodbold Club of the Danish Second Division West, it would be ages before I got into the nitty gritty of league football. My main aim was to reduce the wage budget which was nearly £2k a week over budget. By the time the season came round I was still £824 a week over it, but had tried all I could do to drop it down.

7 players left the club, with 3 players coming in - I paid £100 for all three players and brought them in on amateur contracts. Still looking for more players all on amateur contracts until I can get rid of the rest of the dead wood and bring the wages under control.

Club is expected to finish in a respectable league position whilst the papers reckon 6th place will be good (So out of a league of 16 teams, 6 will be respectable I would imagine), the club also wants at least a 2nd round cup performance, with Aarup Boldklub facing us in the first round (Danish non-league club), I was hoping I could tick that particular box.

16 youth players were brought through the ranks, I however only kept 5 of them on the books - best being a left back that is expected to be a maximum of a 2 star player in the future.

So with nothing more to do, bring on the league - and here is to some type of miracle and a championship in my first season (and 5 points towards being the leader of this challenge).

Didnt achieve what i wanted to but didn't get any worse so i am not to bothered plus i am not really spending as much as the big boys of the division but i am in Europe extra money and better players wanting to come to me

Here we go! On this day, Sercan Cali is announced the new manager of IF Birkebeineren!

I have 0 player & 0 staff in the squad, semi-pro club. At least 6,5K wage budget should do me some good, hopefully

P.S: Forgot to add, I have also enabled Turkey Prem as well as I'm planning to take a job offer there if I manage to finish the challenge & I'd like to monitor the league in the mean time as well.

The first season is over for IF Birkebeineren and I have managed to do the (not so) unthinkable, winning the league! With only me as a footballing staff at the start of the season, it seemed a bit hard at first. But seems like the players I brought in are good for the level we are at! Screenshots will be up when I get back to home. The only down side of a €6,5K weekly wage budget is we are in the red every month At least the board injects some cash every now and then. Also, got knocked out of the cup in 1st round, should have been a good financial boost

What a season for the team with no staff at the start of season. Clearly hiring Sercan Cali was their first move to a successful history!

League Table: I was not expecting this given we had 20 players who had never seen each other before! The title was a close call in the last 6-7 weeks. When Elverum & Tonsberg dropped points, it was our chance to get ahead and we used it well in the last 3 matches.

Out of that bunch, 4 strikes shine throughout the season, given the fact that I was rotating them 4 to keep them all match fit.

Balal Arezu: Decent striker with some speed and team work. Added to the total tally when it mattered by scoring a few game winners.

Fosu Boateng: A good striker with passing capabilities, nearly acting as a left winger. 9 yellow cards in 21 games is a bit much though and one of the main reasons for the rotation.

Ingolfur Ragnarsson: Both a midfielder and a striker at the same time, provided a dependable source of outcome when needed.

Fredrik William Henriksen: This guy is your every day experienced striker in lower leagues. I was really not expecting him to put on a show but at times he scored at will!

As you can see, I'm trying to get decent team work / work rate combinations to the team, coupled with some key attributes (pace, dribbling etc). Hopefully this mentality will help us in the next season to come!

Norwegian Cup

Failed miserably when I wanted to rest a few players given we were playing a game every 3 game at that time. Knocked out by non-league Halse Loren IL in 1st round, awarded around €10K for just showing up so it seems cup is a decent finance booster!

Youth intake: Nothing to mention. All the guys are rated as half a golden star at their potential and around 1 silver star at current ability. Not sure if I should keep them just for the sake of having a U19 team or ditch them all and save on the bills!

Aims- Stay clear of relegation one way or another.
- Try to get a few rounds in the cup for financial reasons.
- Improve the finances!

League Table
WOW!!!! what a crazy year was so close in the league at one point i thought i lost it but my guys managed to pull through and win the league on the last game of the season it helped Rosenborg went to Molde which they got beat 2-1 so yeah here i come champions league time wahooo

Shocking start to the season, with the winter break over and just 11 games to go - I need all the luck in the world to stay up. That said, if I do a club has got to come knocking at my door and if they do - im offski, I can't do anymore with this club, the chairman will just not invest in anything, and the sponsorship is not coming either.

Well season one is finished and I got promoted. it was close but my boys managed to keep a cool head and sail the ship home.
I got knocked out of the cup pretty early. Finances are not very good but I'm hoping to offload some deadwood and then the finances will probably get better.
To get Djurgċrdens as a parent club was great and they sent some great players over to me.

The target for next season is to survive since there is quite a gap between the third and second division.